Railways to connect NE capitals by 2020

As per the grand plans of the Northeast Frontier Railways for India’s North Eastern region, there are plans to connect all the state capitals of the region by 2020.

This was stated by NF Railways General Manager R.S. Virdi at a technical session titled ‘Railways, Infrastructure and Construction: Mobilising the North East – Railways as an Agent of Change’ held on the concluding day of the Assam International Trade and Industrial Fair (AITIF) at Jorhat. Virdi said that the NF Railways has major plans for the region and is undertaking several major projects in the region. He stated that 34 major projects are currently underway which are to the tune of Rs 53,000 crores.

Virdi further stated that the most important ones among the ongoing projects are the connecting lines from North Lakhimpur to Murkongselek, the upcoming Bogibeel Bridge over the Brahmaputra river near Dibrugarh, the new line from Jiribam to Imphal in Manipur and the conversion of the meter gauge to broad gauge line from Badarpur to Agartala. Virdi also added here that there is a great potential of rail freight increasing in Upper Assam. He further added that the railways want to serve the tea industry of the state and want to make advances in that direction.

Also speaking at the do was Arvind Bhatnagar, Director Domestic of CONCOR, who talked of the large potential of increasing freight in the North East with the augment of business. He said that a storage facility has come up in Agartala which would greatly help the freight prospects in the region. Apart from him, R.K. Sondh, the Chief Passenger Transport Manager of the NF Railways, talked of the freight incentive schemes that the Railways has taken out for the new loaders.

Also speaking at the do were Aneet Dulat, Divisional Railway Manager; Hira Lal, Controller of Stores for NF Railways; and Mukesh Kewalramani, the General Manager (Trade) for Star Cements.